"Because he intended to kill him," Alena said. "But he was too late, and he knew he was too late because he had seen the remains of the caravan Khiann had been leading."
"You weren't there." Amanda poured herself more wine. "That's all pure speculation."
"It just makes sense." Alena didn't look perturbed by Amanda's doubts. "But you are right, and I might be completely off."
"What does he want in exchange?" Orion asked.
"His freedom." Kian reached for the bottle of wine and refilled his and Syssi's glasses. Annani's was still full. "He wants us to set him free to resume his operations on his island."
Orion tilted his head. "Are you considering it?"
"No. We can't release him."
"Why not?" Amanda put her wine glass down a little too forcefully. "We could catch him again and snatch him off his island. Or we could just obliterate it with him on it."
"He will take Areana with him," Annani said. "We would be back to square one."
Amanda folded her arms over her chest. "We need to think it through. There must be a way to force Navuh to revealwhere Khiann is in exchange for something else. If we let him understand that freedom is not on the table, and he believes that we are serious, he will compromise."
All eyes turned to Annani.
She sat very still, very composed, but Kian could see the war waging behind her eyes. Duty versus desire. The good of many versus the happiness of one.
"I cannot free Navuh," she said. "Not even for Khiann. Not even for my own heart. I will not have countless lives on my conscience. Fates know that I already live with enough guilt to fill the ocean. Navuh was not wrong in accusing me of starting the chain of events that led to the demise of the gods and the loss of countless immortal and human lives. If I had not spurned Mortdh, if I had been willing to sacrifice myself, the fate of the world would have been different. But I was selfish, and I chose my own happiness over the good of the many. I will not do that again."
"We will find another way," Amanda said. "We will find Khiann without giving Navuh what he wants." She turned to Kian. "Any ideas how?"
"For now, only one. Tomorrow, the shaman and his mate are coming over for lunch. Elias had visions when he touched Navuh, so there's a chance he saw something that might help us."
"That's a stretch," Dalhu said. "What if he doesn't have anything useful for us?"
Kian reached for Syssi's hand under the table. "Then Syssi can try to summon another vision. I know that the Fates didn't bringNavuh to us on a silver platter only for us to release him. They have a plan."
Later that night, after all the guests had departed and Allegra had been wrestled into pajamas and deposited in her crib with her favorite stuffed bear, Kian returned to the living room and looked at the shuttered windows.
The strict security measures were necessary to keep the village hidden from satellites and aircraft that might reveal their location to humans and to the Brotherhood. It was a reminder of all they were forced to sacrifice to be safe because of Navuh and his ilk.
He heard Syssi's soft footsteps and then her arm wrapped around his middle. "Talk to me."
"I hate this," he said quietly. "I hate that he has this power over my mother."
"I know."
"She's waited five thousand years, Syssi. Five thousand years of grief and loneliness and missing the other half of her soul. And now there's hope, but I still can't give her what she needs."
"We'll find a way. What you said about the Fates was so true. We never expected to bag Navuh when we set out to rescue Tula, and look what the Fates did. We have Areana and all the ladies, and we have captured our archnemesis."
"He should tell us where Khiann is in exchange for us saving his worthless life," Kian said.
"He should." Syssi chuckled. "But the bastard knows that we can't kill him because of Areana. If your mother were more like her father, she would have played the game better. She wouldhave threatened Navuh's life or even Areana's and made damn sure that they believed her. Areana would have suffered for a little while, thinking that her sister was cruel and didn't care for her, but that would have been a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things."
7
DIMITRI
The lab was quiet except for the soft hum of air-conditioning, the stronger hum of the dehumidifier, and Petrov's snoring from the cot in the corner.
Dimitri should have become used to the constant background noise by now, but it was almost as oppressive as the heat and humidity outside the lab building. Almost, but not quite. And to think that he'd dreamt of living on a tropical island.
